Today Mexico is one of the most insecure countries on the planet, only behind Syria and surpassing countries like Somalia or Yemen. All of its territory is an area of risk. Violence does not diminish despite the actions undertaken by its government. Killings and disappearances happen every day. Robbery and extortion are a constant. Corruption, impunity and crime are uncontainable. According to the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP), in 2016, the highest homicide rates in the last 20 years are recorded in 7 states. 2016 was the bloodiest year since Peña Nieto is in power, with 23,000 victims.
The Mexican government refuses to accept that there is an armed conflict in the country. However, every day that passes Mexico is closer to a failed state. The authority is losing control of its territory in favor of criminal groups. The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) estimates that in the last ten years organized violence has claimed the lives of more than 160 thousand people. A figure higher than the 100,000 that summit the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan for the same period (2007-2017), two countries where – unlike Mexico – heavy artillery is used. A high percentage of crimes in Mexico are not counted as proceeds of organized crime in the non-involvement of the use of firearms (which is why bottlenecks, stabbings or femicides are excluded from the statistics).

Perception of insecurity
Studies of victimization and perception of security shows that one-third of Mexican households claim to have been victims of crime. Of these, more than 20% do not report on grounds related to mistrust of authority. Insecurity is for Mexicans the biggest problem of their nation, notably above issues such as unemployment or inflation.

Violence against journalists
Investigating drug trafficking and corruption is possibly one of Mexico’s most risky and lethal professions. In 2017 five journalists were killed already. The media are forced to resort to self-censorship to avoid hostilities. More than 90% of acts of violence against journalists remain unpunished. In this sense, Mexico ranks 2nd in the Global Impunity Index, only behind the Philippines.

Violence against women
The National Institute of Statistics and Geography states that in Mexico 2 out of 3 women report having suffered some episode of domestic violence. Feminicides are a structural problem that seems to be associated with a cultural pattern. Physical abuse and sexual abuse are a widespread social practice. A reality that laws against gender discrimination have not been able to address. In Mexico, 8% of women suffered their first experience of sexual harassment before the age of 15. There exists in a part of Mexican society a social and cultural environment that tries to minimize the damages of the rape or try to justify it by means of the criminalization of the victims.

Violence against minors
In Mexico, child abuse is the leading cause of death in minors. The national mortality statistics published in 2016 revealed that during the previous year 1,057 minors were killed (2.8 homicides per day). Measuring the magnitude of this problem is highly complex, since the statistics only record the most serious cases that are reported. UNICEF estimates that 62% of Mexican children have suffered some form of violence in their homes and 50% have suffered psychological abuse. 30% of Mexicans are children (39.2 million) more than half of theme (21 million) live in poverty, something that exposes the violence more sharply. In recent years the recruitment of minors by criminal organizations has increased and cases of disappearance have soared.